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Emerging infectious diseases - A briefing from the Board of Science

November 2004

Sources of information and relevant organisations - World
The Department of Communicable Disease Surveillance and Response (CSR), part of the World Health Organization (WHO), is a rich information source for infectious diseases. The CSR website www.who.int contains WHO fact sheets on the transmission, symptoms, diagnosis, therapy and vaccine, containment, contact, history, natural reservoir and statistics of each infectious disease.

The CSR website www.who.int/csr also contains a comprehensive listing of disease outbreaks and news on regional and national infectious disease activities. For example, it has recently issued a new fact sheet about the significance on human health of avian influenza. The WHO believes that every country should be able to detect, verify rapidly and respond appropriately to epidemic-prone and emerging disease threats when they arise. The CSR produces:

• guidelines and manuals on the surveillance and control of epidemic-prone diseases and guidance on how to assess surveillance systems
• maps to support public health activities at the district, national, regional and global levels
• videos for training health professionals and raising awareness of the diseases and their treatments
• software to help analyse and compare data
• databases which track the occurrences of diseases over time.
  

The Weekly Epidemiological Record (WER), published by the World Health Organization, serves to disseminate epidemiological information on cases and outbreaks of diseases under the International Health Regulations, other communicable diseases of public health importance, including newly emerging or re-emerging infections, non-communicable diseases and other health problems. www.who.int/wer

The Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) is a technical WHO collaboration of existing institutions and networks which pools human and technical resources for the rapid identification, confirmation and response to outbreaks of international importance.
www.who.int/csr/outbreaknetwork

International Travel and Health is a WHO publication that offers guidance on the full range of health risks likely to be encountered at specific destinations and associated with different types of travel. The guidance is intended to help the medical profession to be fully aware of potential risks and to provide appropriate advice, whether this concerns recommended vaccinations, protection against insects and other disease vectors, or safety in different environmental settings. www.who.int/ith

The Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) is an independent global programme of scientific collaboration established in 1975 and co-sponsored by UNICEF, the United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank and the WHO. It aims to help coordinate, support and influence global efforts to combat a portfolio of major diseases of the poor and disadvantaged.

The TDR website contains information on the TDR diseases (leishmaniasis, schistosomiasis, onchocerciasis, lymphatic filariasis, Chagas disease, malaria, leprosy, African trypanosomiasis, tuberculosis, and dengue) and the activities of the Special Programme, the text of the TDR Newsletter and details of other publications. Research reports from 1998 to 2001 are provided here. www.who.int/tdr